Health-related quality of life of infants from ethnic minority groups: the Generation R Study

PURPOSE: To assess whether the health-related quality of life of infants from ethnic minority groups differs from the health-related quality of life of native Dutch infants and to evaluate whether infant health and family characteristics explain the potential differences. METHODS: We included 4,506 infants participating in the Generation R Study, a longitudinal birth cohort. When the child was 12 months, parents completed the Infant Toddler Quality of Life Questionnaire (ITQOL); ITQOL scale scores in each ethnic subgroup were compared with scores in the Dutch reference population. Influence of infant health and family characteristics on ITQOL scale scores were evaluated using multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Infants from ethnic minority groups presented significantly lower ITQOL scale scores compared to the Dutch subgroup (e.g., Temperament and Moods scale: median score of Turkish subgroup, 70.8 (IQR, 15.3); median score of Dutch subgroup, 80.6 (IQR, 13.9; P < 0.001)). Infant health and family characteristics mediated an important part of the association between the ethnic minority status and infant health-related quality of life. However, these factors could not fully explain all the differences in the ITQOL scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: Parent-reported health-related quality of life is lower in infants from ethnic minority groups compared to native Dutch infants, which could partly be explained by infant health and by family characteristics.